Felicity Smoak Joins the New 52...And She's the Arrow Version

When Felicity Smoak was first introduced into comics back in 1984, she was a minor supporting character in The Fury of Firestorm. Eventually marrying the father of Ronnie Raymond, she provided roughly as many laughs and appeared in about as many scenes as "the hero's stepmom" probably would.

When she was introduced on Arrow, she could have been a throwaway character, but Emily Bett Rickards immediately won over the producers and the audience with her onscreen chemistry with series star Stephen Amell. The character was promoted to recurring and then regular, and there is a vocal contingent of fans who want to see her with Oliver Queen, rather than Laurel Lance, who would be his "intended" love if you go by the comics.

Well, the pre-Flashpoint comics, anyway. Since the relaunch, the focus on Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance's relationship has been next to nil -- and while Ronnie was the child of a broken home, she never showed up to date his dad.

Today's issue, though, saw Arrow showrunner Andrew Kreisberg and staff writer Ben Sokolowski taking over the monthly Green Arrow comic book, filling the spot vacated by Jeff Lemire. They started out by establishing a world for Green Arrow that feels very...Arrow-friendly. A bigger role for Diggle, a grittier, more street-level approach, a focus on the community: check, check, check.

And then, in a final page reveal: Felicity Smoak.

Looking all hot and blonde, with glasses, not unlike Emily Bett Rickards and very much unlike the very '80s look of the original (seen at right).

Along with the introduction of Mia Dearden, this issue provided two of Team Arrow's most-anticipated arrivals since the launch of the New 52. Now...who wants to take bets on whether "Olicity" happens on the printed page?